Archived entries for generous

Promote or engage?

This post is in reply to the following question on Linked In:

How do you promote your business without trying to sell your business? A minefield

Simply provide information about yourself so anyone reading will be aware that you are knowledgeable with regard to your industry and area of work. With the objective of making you a source of information that the reader will return to.

People buy from people, relationships are key to any brand development. Building networks and communities and knowing who your connected community is will help define your strategy and objectives.

When you begin listening and see what is discussed, how and where you will better understand how to engage. Wherever you listen though make sure you hear all, don’t just take what you want to hear. This can be offline [face to face] as well as online. There are loads of free to use online solution for monitoring activity as well as pay to use software.

Here’s a good article about consumer connections and how brands need to to do more than market and promote http://www.briansolis.com/2010/11/the-rise-of-the-social-consumer/ understanding the value of connected communities, emotion and loyalty.
The trust and loyalty received from engaging and building relationships within connected communities will then deliver word of mouth. Virtually everyone [over 2 billion people online by the end of 2010] has an online network; from people buying from people, people also listen to those they trust. Understanding these ‘online referral networks’ add massive value to any business, they are simply people connecting with people.

I was invited recently to hear how to cold call, personally I hate doing it and have steered away from talking to people who within seconds hate you. No good saying ‘Every no gets you closer to a yes’ your time would be spent actually working on finding the the networks and communities that want to talk to you rather than anyone who has a telephone.

Best thing to be though is yourself with belief in your product and service.

Pecha Kucha – Huddersfield 23.09.10

Pecha Kucha – Huddersfield 23.09.10
View more presentations from design58

This slideshow was first seen at a Pecha Kucha night in Huddersfield 23 September 2010, to find out more about Pecha Kucha visit www.pecha-kucha.org . The basic guidelines are for presentations with 20 slides each lasting 20 seconds, 6 minutes 40 seconds in total for each presenter.

This is just an insight to some of the people I have connected and shared time, experiences and inspiration with from 1983 to 2010.  Some of the slides share direct contact through art and performance others indirect contact to the people seen in each slide.

Slide Details:
1.  Social networking connections through shared interests

2.  1983 Living in Middlesbrough, UK  and my introduction to fanzines, fluxus and the  mail art world.

3.  Receiving mail art from war zones, prisons, friendly Soviet KGB officers to everyday artists and people all around the globe building relationships some of which continue today.

4.  I published a fanzine distributing it globally; the Rough trade shop was one of my most important outlets though.  Where I met someone who too it further around the area an actor with my mother’s maiden name Allen, and also known as the father of a London singer.

5.  ‘Grass one blade or more’ was to be my mail art exhibition;   all i requested was people sent me their interpretation of the request.  I received 327 samples from46 countries over three years and again made more amazing connections and relationships through their participation.

6.  Through a random meeting in New York came the inspiration to exhibit in my own home from someone who became a lifelong friend with factory connections.

7.  Whilst in Brighton, Uk shared time with a former assistant of this Spanish artist and had many insights to a wonderful life.

8.  Performing and dancing in nightclubs around the country and then at the Slut Club, organised by this Glaswegian singer.  Followed by an all day Creation Records day at the Town and Country Club London audience 5000.

9.  Dancing referrals were made about many but often to the artist and poet centre stage in this image again from the Factory in New York.

10.  Image making as a photographer I did a shot with the band in the background of this image and they inspired the Seattle singing sensation in the foreground.

11.  The Church of the Subgenius was never far away especially Bob, memorably performing  as him in a Sinclair C5 car at The Zap Club Brighton, UK.

12.  A Texan actor part of an audience during a surrealist banquet at Brighton Pavilion, UK.

13.  World champion boxing champion often an active audience participant when I performed as a living sculpture in Brighton, UK.

14.  This actor was a member of a street audience who only made himself known to me.

15.  A young model excited to tell friends of her first shoot in The Face magazine unknown in a busy London station.

16.  Electro hip hop brought from LA to a rural English village by MySpace as part of an art fair.

17.  Platform58 is always searching for more creativity whether known or unknown and to find through contacts old and new to help spread the word of everyones creativity as simple as that.

18.  Relationships have come from inside a wall to a life time of art, sound and film and carry on being made.

19.  Mattia Fagnoni and his family truly deserving of anything I can do by sharing what they do in rasing funds to research  and help families affected by Tay Sachs or Sandhoff disease.  For more visit them on Facebook .

20.  It will never be my message that is important but the conversation that follows. Thank you from everyone at design58

Mark Longbottom

Social Media Part of Everything You Do

What the F**k is Social Media NOW?
View more presentations from Marta Kagan.

This is an excellent slideshow although maybe a little long, we found the Slide 76 to 99 covers a great deal of our thuoghts and plans. These slides are detailed below.

In fact social media is redefing virtually f***king everything including:
[but not limited to]

How We Work
How We Play
How We Learn
How We Share
How We Discover
How We Create
How We Complain
How We Celebrate
How We Mourn
How We Applaud
How We Influence
How We Collaborate
How We Investgate
How We Evaluate
And Even How We..[thats slide 92]

All media is now Social Media yet the basic rules stay the same

Rule 1 : Listen
Rule 2 : Engage
Rule 3 : Be Real
Rule 4 : Be Respectful
Rule 5 : Have Fun

The slideshow and words come from Marta Kaganwww.brandinfiltration.com ,
they would like your thoughts and so would we.

Social Media and You

Social Media and You
View more presentations from design58.

Slide1
Looking at the relevance of social media, to you, your business and your customers/consumers/clients focusing on the importance of conversation.

Slide2
What does social media mean to you?

Slide3
Making contacts and connections in communities is not a new concept

Slide4
People and community are more important to business than ever before.

Slide5
2005 saw an explosion in wall to wall to wall interaction.

Slide6
We have more and more interruptions in our day from marketing.
We have the ability to ignore these marketing interruptions and we do.

Slide7
We wrote letters and got junk mail, we wrote emails and got spam.
Now we write direct messages to people who opt in to our network for information.

Slide8
What happens when we do listen to our community?
What happens when a community is enabled, inspired and influenced?
What happens if we engage with an inspired community?

Slide9
They share the information with their friends, followers and fans.

Slide10
Be Genuine, authentic, informative and real.
Engaged networks and communities provide trust and loyalty.
Information travels much further when it is shared.
Relationships have become more important than marketing.
People want companies to be open and approachable.

Slide11
Conversations and discussions will happen without being initiated by the company.
Companies are hanging on to the thought that they are in control.
Listening will improve your knowledge of your audience.

Slide12
It is not about message but the conversation that follows.

Slide13
The slideshow shows how relevant social media is when developing conversations between businesses and their customers/consumers/clients, and how understanding your target audience you are able to deliver added value to a service that they can benefit from.

Sharing not shouting.

social networks sharing not shouting - www.design58.comMarketing once upon a time was about pushing a product or service and making a shout about it, a much harder process now consumers can produce more online content than the marketers.  Whilst producing content they also share information within various communities and networks.

Social media should be used in partnership with traditional methods of promotion and marketing but always with the same basic values used.  Being generous, informative and authentic will help your message go much further than walking into a room and blasting your message through the p a system.

So if you have a product, service or message and you want to tell people about it. Wouldn’t it be better to share information with your audience or market?

By sharing your information with friends, fans and followers the likelihood that your message is shared to their network is far higher. Down to the basic trust and loyalty a social media community and or network can deliver, whether this is your network or the larger network your friends open your message to with positive referrals.

Help your fans, followers and friends to share your information by being genuine, informative and authentic in your delivery.  Make them not only pass on your message because they know you but because they believe in what you do.

Any thoughts please comment below